Now that we have a basic set of drawings ,we send out those drawings and solicit feedback from some contractors, which we help you select. Using our drawings, contractors will produce preliminary budgets based on our drawings and we’ll use that, their references, availability, and experience to help select someone to work with. They’re retained for services during the rest of “pre-construction” and used to help update the budget in real time as the project becomes more finalized. Some folks like to bid out the project much later in the process but we strongly feel there is tremendous value in having this team member on board as early as possible. We get along with general contractors and recognize that while we are good at budgeting, they are outstanding at pricing things with real market costs.

Once a contractor is selected, we jump into “value engineering” to ensure that we’re spending your money wisely, even if we’ve hit the budget target straight on. We’ll make a comparative spreadsheet to help go through all of the line items and ensure that your money is being spent in smart and efficient ways in every category.